


sentimental trickster

by a_popcorn_kernel



Series: poppy's playlist [5]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Angst, Crying, F/M, Hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Hurt/Comfort, Marichat, Marichat | Adrien Agreste as Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Marinette Dupain-Cheng Needs a Hug, Rain, Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:26:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23851540
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_popcorn_kernel/pseuds/a_popcorn_kernel
Summary: Marinette cries while a thunderstorm rages outside. Chat Noir visits his princess.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug
Series: poppy's playlist [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686544
Comments: 12
Kudos: 143





	sentimental trickster

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Shattered_Heartless](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shattered_Heartless/gifts).



> Happy belated birthday, Lucy(fer)! 
> 
> Many many thanks to my beta, our very own Chloe Decker: [ Angylle ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Angylle/pseuds/Angylle)
> 
> Also I took the title from [Strange Land](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR-Z16_MoEI) by NIKI & Phum Viphurit, I'm begging you to listen to it while reading because it really just makes it hurt more

It is a dark and stormy night. Rain pours relentlessly, thunder crashes, and lightning flashes in jagged lines, illuminating Paris with startling bursts of crackling energy. A chilly gloom settles over the City of Lights, the Eiffel Tower’s bright glow muted through the downpour. 

Shadows dance across Marinette's face as she sits on her couch, huddling her knees to her chest, her petite body wracked with sobs. Her tears stream down her face, echoing the rain that lashes against a nearby skylight. A smidge of red—Tikki—lies cradled in the hollow of Marinette's pale and slender neck, offering what meagre comfort she can. 

Her cries are soft, heart-wrenching; the plaintive sounds mirrored by the muffled noise of the thunderstorm raging outside. Her sobs have no business coming from a usually cheerful and kind girl. And yet...and yet, she continues to sob, heart twisting and contracting and  _ hurting _ . 

It was all her fault. Her fault for believing he would ever love her, ever choose her... ever see her. Her fault for believing his staunch loyalty to his mysterious girl would waver. 

She feels like she's falling down, down, down. Like Alice, she's plunging down the rabbit hole, except the teacups and fancy hats are replaced with the shards of her shattered heart. They slice her pale skin as she falls, lines of vermillion red scarring her body. Intensifying her heartbreak.

_ "I'm sorry, Marinette. I love another." _

She screams into her arms, anguished. In her mind's eye, she sees his green eyes, laced with pity as they pierce her heart. His green eyes, turning her down, whilst her own pair of sapphires harbor the sadness her smile hides.

_ "Ah— um— you're fine! I mean, fine it's. I mean, it's fine!" The last word is nearly a sob, ripping free from her throat. She plasters on a smile. "I've— I've got to go, seeyounexttimebye!"  _

_ She turns around before he can see the first drops fall from her bluebell eyes. _

Tikki nuzzles into her, unable to do anything to relieve her pain. Outside, the rain falls even harder, punishing drops of water streaking down from above. Outside, the wind howls, chilling to the core.

Outside, Paris cries alongside her. 

You know what they say _ — _ misery loves its company. 

* * *

_ "Marinette Dupain-Cheng will be my masterpiece." _

A violet-black butterfly flutters out of a window gracefully, dark energy pulsating in its wings.

_ "Fly away, my little akuma, and darken her heart." _

* * *

A pair of emerald green eyes make out an akuma amidst the blurry, misty rain. 

Said eyes widen in panic, calling out for his transformation—

_ "Plagg, claws out!" _

—and Chat Noir vaults out of Adrien Agreste's bedroom, in hot pursuit.

* * *

Somewhere deep within the recesses of her mind, Marinette knows she should stop crying. Stop sobbing, stop leaving herself open for Hawkmoth. But at this point…

At this point, she's too exhausted to care. Too heartbroken. Too weary. 

She shoves away her reason and tells herself that just for tonight, she'll lower her barriers. She'll relinquish the tight hold she normally keeps on her emotions. Just for tonight, she'll let herself  _ feel. _

A glance at the rain outside reminds her of that fateful first meeting with Adrien, and it spurs her tears on. They come faster, puddling, overflowing, dripping down her cheeks in rivulets of shining liquid. She cries for love lost, for hopes dashed, for everything that's ever gone wrong in her life. 

Chat Noir opens and closes the skylight as quick as a flash, rain slipping through to soak her bed. He spies the butterfly with his enhanced sight and  _ pounces _ , landing in a crouch in front of a teary-eyed Marinette, snatching the butterfly out of the air just as it’s about to descend on her. 

The akuma in his leathered grip wriggles, and he sees her watery eyes widen in realization, her cries stopping short in shock. 

"Cataclysm," he rasps out. He lets his power take hold. Then his fingers unfurl, and grey-black flakes drift down, the product of accelerated decay. Heaving raggedly—he had had a hard time keeping track of the butterfly through the downpour, especially since he had been  _ so tired _ because of an after-school photoshoot—he holds her gaze for a moment, nearly drowning in the sapphire ocean of sorrow in her eyes. She breaks eye contact first, and he stands up, moving to settle next to her gingerly.

"What's wrong, princess?" he asks quietly, his body angling to face her. 

She instinctively reaches toward him, desperate for some semblance of comfort. She sobs brokenly into his chest, and Chat swears he can  _ hear _ his heart cleaving in two. 

"I— he—" She hiccups shakily. "Adr— Adrien—" 

His name comes out in a pained whisper, painted with shades of sorrow and longing and grief all at once.  _ This is my fault _ , he realizes with a stab, as he wraps his arm around her shoulders, bringing her closer.  _ I did this to her. She almost got akumatized because of  _ me.  _ She's crying because of  _ me. 

He shushes her gently. “Don’t talk, Princess. Just let it all out.”

Her tears fall faster as she hugs him tighter. “Oh— okay.”

An indescribable, shame-filled guilt seizes him, in the knowledge that she is being comforted by the same person who broke her.  _ How could he have believed she was fine, after he had flat-out rejected her?  _

In that moment, he knows he will do anything to see her smile again. To see those bluebell eyes crinkle up in happiness. 

_ Not _ shut in tearful mourning, as they are right now. Her head is against his chest, the top of her blue-black hair reaching just below his chin. 

"Princess…" he says thickly, guilt written in his every feature, "Princess, I'm so sorry." 

She sniffles before answering, tilting her head up to meet his gaze. 

"It's—" Her throat seizes up. "It's not— not your fault," she finally manages to say, words raw from crying. 

His heart  _ squeezes _ , and it feels like her voice is carving him up. He wants to scream and tell her,  _ It  _ is _ my fault! _

But since he's Chat Noir, and not Adrien, he keeps quiet and settles for silent self-loathing. He settles for holding her closer, for being her rock. 

He pretends he isn't the reason she needs a shoulder to cry on. 

* * *

After the rain lets up and she runs out of tears, she curls up against him sleepily, emotionally drained. The moon shines brightly outside, free from the rainclouds that had previously shrouded its existence.

He tightens his grip on her, blinking away tears of his own. 

Checking the time, he frowns. He has to leave soon.

He stands up, carrying her in his arms. Her pale cheeks glisten with dried streaks of tears in the faint moonlight, halo of blue hair catching stray shimmers. Shrouded in moonbeams, she looks every inch the angel she is inside, ethereal in her beauty. 

Her hair is out of her usual pigtails, he notices for the first time. The soft locks cascade gently over her shoulders, lending a serene quality to her sorrowful appearance.

_ What a sight we must make,  _ Chat thinks ruefully.  _ A thief in the night, carrying off a goddess.  _ The only thing marring the picturesque tableau is the puffy-eyed, sorrow-filled expression she holds, even in her fitful sleep. 

He nimbly scales the loft ladder, gently laying her down on the soft mattress and brushing away the silky strands of hair sticking to her damp cheeks. He studies her desolate features with no small amount of regret. 

Where is the cheerful, blushing, caring girl he knows and loves? Only heaven knows. But what he  _ does  _ know is that he is the one who locked that Marinette away. 

He casts one more glance at her sleeping form, regret and second-hand heartache sweeping his face into a look of sorrow that cannot fully convey his inner turmoil.

Then he leaves.

He leaves, jumping and sprinting back to the cold mansion that can't be called home. Blue hair and tear-streaked cheeks burn themselves into his mind, haunting him all the way back.

* * *

The memory of blue hair and pale cheeks stays with him, even after he wakes up from restless sleep and meets his friends at the school entrance. It's there when he attempts to talk to Marinette, Alya keeping him away with her silent glare. It keeps him company when he eats dinner alone, in the mansion he can't call home. It lingers, even when he goes to bed once more. 

He can't get rid of the relentless guilt, hounding him, snapping at his conscience. 

_ Your fault. All your fault.  _

**Author's Note:**

> i'm on tumblr at [apopcornkernel](https://apopcornkernel.tumblr.com)!


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